Printing press



March 11, 1958 G. R. BRODIE ETAL PRINTING PRESS Filed NOV. 24, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS GEORGE R. BRODIE WILLIAM B. RAYBUCK ATTORNEYS March 11, 1958 G. R. BRODIE ETAL 2,826,413

PRINTING PRESS Filed Nov. 24, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 w EL FIG. 2

WILLIAM B. RAYBUCK BY INVENTO GEORG E R. B DlE.

G. R. BRODIE ETAL.

March 11, 1958 PRINTING PRESS v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 24, 195 4 FIG. 6

INVENTQRS GEORGE R. BRODIE WILLIAM B. RAYHUCK BY finmfdmwniqmmiimflamwoyy z ATTQR United States Patent PRINTING PRESS George R. Brodie and William B. Raybuck, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pa, assignors to Fredk H. Levey Company, Inc., New York, N. iii, a corporation of New York Application November 24, 1954, Serial No. 470,961

Claims. (Cl. z71-s7 This invention relates to the art of printing, and more particularly to the stacking and accurately aligning the corresponding edges of printing sheets of paper or the like. The invention provides a novel machine of particular utility in the aligning and stacking of folded sheets, especially of folded signatures as they are rapidly delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press.

As is wellknown in the art of printing, and particularly in magazine and book printing, it is customary to equip such presses with mechanisms adapted to re ceive the printed web and to cut and fold the web to form what are known as signatures. These signatures usually consist of one or more printed sheets of equal size uniformly folded together. The length and breadth of the signatures may vary over a considerable range dependent upon the particular press setup.

The signatures are rapidly delivered by the folder and must be collected and stacked for subsequent assembling with other signatures to form the complete publication. The aligning and stacking of the signatures as they come from the folder is usually done by hand and care must be exercised to avoid damaging their edges. The aligning is usually accomplished, to a more or less imperfect extent, by taking a pile of signatures and tapping the edges of the pile on a fiat surface. tures have been brought closely together or stacked, there is considerable frictional resistance between the flat surfaces of adjacent signatures which interferes with the shifting of one signature with respect to another. Therefore, any projecting edges of signatures are frequently damagedin the manual aligning operation, just described. Also, the manual procedure is usually tedious, time-com suming and relatively costly.

The present invention provides a machine for automatically aligning signatures as they come from the folder while holding them in a substantially vertical position out of frictional contact with adjacent signature.

The machine of our present invention is applicable particularly for use in conjunction with rotary, Webtype printing presses equipped with folding or delivering mechanism which discharges the signatures downwardly in a substantially vertical plane and in its broader aspect comprises at least one spiral, or helix, positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane of signature delivery and so positioned, with respect to the folder delivery, that the individual signatures are dropped edgewise onto a horizontal table, or other plane surface, through one of the spaces between the flights of the spiral.

The spiral is adapted to be rotated in a direction so as to move the signatures outwardly along the table surface while holding them apart so that there is no frictional contact between adjacent signatures. Accordingly, their lower edges are accurately aligned by the horizontal table surface. On opposite sides of the path of the signatures along the table surface, we provide horizontally extending side guides. The distance between these guides at their inner ends is somewhat greater than the width of the However, after the signa- I signatures, so that the signatures from the folder will readily fall between the guides. These guides are brought gradually closer together along the sides of the path of the signatures until the distance between them is just equal to the width of the signatures. The side guides thus serve to move the signatures sideways, as they are being separately propelled along the table by the spiral conveyor, until their side edges have been brought into accurate alignment.

At the outer end of the spiral, the aligned signatures are brought together, i. e. stacked, While still in a vertical position, to form a horizontally positioned pack and we provide means, such, for instance, as the belt conveyor hereinafter described, for uniformly moving the stacked, aligned signatures from the outer end of the spiral.

The flight angle of the spiral and the distance between flights, and also the length of the spiral, may be varied considerably to suit the intended use of the machine. The distance between flights should be sufficiently greater than the thickness of the signatures to permit ready passing of the signatures through the space between the flights. Also, whether one or more spiral is used, and the diameter and positioning of the spiral, are dependent primarily upon the dimensions of the signatures to be stacked.

The invention will be more fully described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent several advantageous embodiments of the invention, and of which- Fig. 1 is a somewhat conventional side view of the stacking machine showing its relationship to the folder and showing a stack of signatures in position;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus along line 2-2 of Fig. l the stacked signatures being omitted for clarity;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat conventional side elevational view of similar apparatus of a somewhat simplified form;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the apparatus along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a somewhat enlarged side view of the conveyor spiral illustrating various modifications thereof;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a further modified form of the machine;

Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of the machine represented by Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of a still further modified form of the machine;

Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of the machine of Fig. 8 along line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side view of a modified form of the conveyor spiral, and

Fig. 11 is an end view of the spiral of Fig. 10.

Referring more particularly to Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, a cutting and folding machine of conventional design is fragmentarily indicated, supported by side frames 1.

In operation the signatures which have been cut and folded are stripped from the drum 2 of the folder by the stripping fingers indicated at 3 and pass downwardly along a substantially vertical plane into the bite of the cooperating damping belts 4 and 5 passing over pulleys 6, so that their adjacent surfaces move downwardly at predetermined speeds.

In conventional high speed operations, the signatures are frequently thrown downwardly from the folder drum 2 with considerable force. In such cases, it is sometimes desirable to check their speed before they pass into the spiral conveyor 7. The cooperating belts just described may be provided for that purpose where necessary, or desirable, but are not essential features of the present invention in its broader aspect and may be omitted.

The spiral conveyors 7, of which there are two in this particular modification of the invention, are rotatably 2,826,413 I a a 3 supported by shafts 3, which in turn are supported by journal 9, the shafts 8 being adapted to be rotated by any suitable means, for instance, through means of beveled gears it} and shaft 131 connected to any convenient source of power by which the speed of rotation of the spiral can be coordinated with that of the folder drum 2 so that a space between flights of the spiral will be in the plane of signature delivery at the instant each signature is delivered from between the belts 4 and 5.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, we have provided a substantially horizontal stacking table 12 at an elevation slightly below the axis of rotation of the spirals 7 and extending into and between the spirals to a point somewhat beyond the vertical plane of delivery of the signatures from the folder.

Substantially flush with the upper surface of the stacking table 12, and extending outwardly therefrom, we

have provided a belt conveyor 13 with driving pulleys or sprockets M at the inner end of the conveyor and idler pulleys or sprockets 15 at the other end. Pulleys 3 14 are driven by means of a variable speed gear unit indicated at 16 through pulley 17 and belt 18. The belt conveyor is supported by receiving table 19 which in turn is supported by any suitable means, for instance, legs 20.

In operation, as previously noted, the signatures are rotate, the signatures are thereby held in a substantially I vertical plane resting on the stacking table 12 and are moved outwardly from the plane of delivery.

The speed of operation of the spirals is so coordinated with the delivery rate of the signatures that each signature is moved outwardly from the plane of delivery before the following signature is delivered to the spiral conveyor and so that a space between the flights of the spiral, open at its upper side, lies in the plane of delivery at the moment when a signature is to be delivered thereto.

The signatures are thus carried forward by the spirals, spaced apart until they leave the outer end of the spiral and there accumulate as a pack or stack 22, the signatures of the pack being held in a substantially vertical position by means of angle iron 23.

As the signatures are separately moved along the stacking table 12 by the spirals, their lower edges are accurately aligned by the horizontal surface of the table. We provide side guides 24 extending outwardly along each side of the path of the signatures being conveyed by the spirals. At their inner end, these side guides are spaced aparta distance somewhat greater than the width of the signatures so as to permit ready access of the signatures between them. As these side guides extend outwardly along the path of the signatures, the distance between them is gradually decreased to a width substantially that of the signatures and they thus serve to move the signatures sidewise to bring their side edges into accurate alignment.

The speed of the belt conveyor 13 is so correlated with the rate of delivery of the signatures by the spirals as to move the assembled pack along the table 19 at a rate equal to that at which the pack accumulates. Periodically the operator may manually slide the outer portion of the accumulated pack along the table 19, replacing the angle iron 23 against the outer side of the remaining pack, and thus move a portion of the pack of aligned signatures onto the cradle 25, positioned at the outer end of the table 19. This cradle is hinged to the table 25 at 26 and is composed of perpendicular arms 27 and 28,

4 the latter arm, when in the position shown in the solid lines on the drawing, being flush with the table surface. The signatures are thus accumulated in the cradle as indicated at 29 and held in a vertical position by angle iron 30 until a pack of considerable size has been accumulated. The cradle is then moved through an angle of 90 about pivot point 26 thus moving the pack of signatures into a vertical position to facilitate further handling and transporting.

Where the belts 4 and 5 are used, the pulleys carrying them may be supported by any' siutable means, for instance, shafts 31 supported by side frames 1 of the folder as shown in Figure 2. For these belts, and also the belt conveyor 13, we use, with advantage, belts of the timing belt type so as to prevent slippage and insure uniform movement of the signatures thereby.

As previously noted, the belts 4 and 5 and parts auxiliary thereto, are not essentials of the present invention. A machine adapted to operate satisfactorily under most conditions without the damping belts, is diagrammatically represented by Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings wherein similar reference numbers indicate corresponding parts of Figures 1 and 2.

In this machine, the uniform delivery of the signatures from the folder is promoted by driven rollers 32 secured to shafts 33, supported by the folder side frames 1 and operating in contact with the signatures being delivered by drum 2. The signatures are stripped from the drum by fingers 3 in acordance with conventional practice. The signatures are then passed downwardly by gravity and their own momentum through the rear space between the flights of spirals 7 and come to rest on the stacking table 12, as indicated at 21, and are separately propelled along the table and aligned while held in a substantially vertical position, as previously described.

In extremely high speed operation, where the damping belts are not used, there may be a tendency for the signatures to rebound somewhat on striking the stacking table 12. This condition is alleviated by forcing the entering signature into frictional contact with an adjacent side of the flight. Means for accomplishing this purpose are illustrated by Figure 5 of the drawings.

As there shown, we secure a rounded lug 34, as by welding or other suitable means, to the rear face 35 of the spiral so that the entering signature is thereby forced forward against the rear side of the flight 36 and rebounding of the signature thus prevented. As an alternative, we may provide means for injecting a jet of air, or other suitable gas, against the rear side of the entering signature, as by means of passageway 37 extending axially through the drive shaft 8. The air jet similarly forces the entering signature against the surface of the adjacent flight, thus preventing excessive rebound of the signature.

A further modification of the invention is illustrated by Figures 6 and 7 of the drawing wherein similar reference numerals indicate corresponding parts of Figures 1 and 2. This modification is adapted particularly for use with press set-ups whereby the folded signatures are delivered endwise from the folder, i. e., with their longer dimension extending vertically. Under such conditions, it is usually desirable to turn the signatures edgewise through an angle of so as to deliver the pack of signatures to the con veyor 13 with their longer dimension extending horizontally. For this purpose, we provide a ring 38, of an inner diameter approximating, at least, the diagonal dimensions of the signatures to be stacked, and advantageously knurled on its inner surface, coaxially positioned with respect to the spiral and rotatably supported independently of the spiral, as by means of rollers 39 secured to shafts 40. This ring is positioned intermediate the ends of the spiral and is operated at a speed such that it will make A revolution while a signature is being conveyed therethrough by the spiral. The width of this ring is subject to considerable variation and will depend upon the speed of rotation and the pitch 'of the spiral. It will be apparent that in this modification of the invention only one spiral is employed. This spiral is positioned with its axis about midway the height of the signatures and slightly to one side so as to permit the signatures to pass entirely through the space between the flights.

As the signatures are separately delivered from the folder, they fall endwise vertically through one of the spaces between the flights of the spiral 7 onto the stacking table 12, advantageously provided with side guides 24, previously described, the table being at a height approximating that at which the inner vertical dimension of the ring approximates the shorter dimension of the signature and terminating at the ring, so that the signatures are propelled by the spiral along the table 12 until they reach ring 38 and are then moved by the spiral into and through the ring 38.

In passing through the ring, the signature is rotated edgewise through an angle of 90 and then delivered to table 12a. The signatures with their maximum dimension now extending horizontally and while being held in a vertical plane by the spiral out of frictional contact with adjacent signatures are propelled forward along table 12a and are accurately aligned by the table surface and the side guides 24a, as previously described, and are delivered in accurate alignment to the conveyor belt 13.

Shafts 40 are supported and driven by any suitable means, not necessary here to describe.

Folding apparatus used in conjunction with high speed rotary web-type presses are frequently so designed as to deliver folded signatures at different points from separate drums of the folder. A modification of the invention adapted to align and stack the signatures delivered from such folders is represented by Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals indicate corresponding parts of Figures 1 and 2, and wherein the delivery drums of a folder of the type just indicated are diagrammatically represented at 2.

The signatures are delivered downwardly along a substantially vertical plane from each of the drums 2. A spiral 7 is provided in each of the planes of delivery mounted on a common shaft 8 rotatably supported by journal brackets 41 and driven by pulley 42. The helices are cut in opposite directions so that each will propel the signatures received thereby outwardly from the planes of delivery. With this arrangement, a larger number of signatures may be aligned and stacked without operating the stacking machine at excessive speeds.

In order to counteract the tendency of a spiral conveyor to move the signatures in the direction in which the spiral is rotating, 1 find it advantageous, when two spirals are used, to operate the spirals in opposite directions, the flights of the respective spirals being cut accordingly so that when thus operated each will convey the signatures in an outward direction.

Signatures are usually delivered folded edge first from conventional folders, so that the folded edges will strike the conveyor table 12 of our stacking machine. By reason of this fact, the edges of the individual sheets are less apt to be damaged by contact with the stacking table. Further the impact of the signatures in that position with the table 12 assists in the aligning of the upper surfaces of the individual folded sheets of the signature.

A modified form of spiral conveyor, which may be used with particular advantage in accordance with our present invention, is represented in Figures 10 and 11 of the drawings and is so designed as to provide an air cushion between the outer flight of the spiral and the pack of delivered signatures, so as to prevent excessive rubbing of the flight on the freshly printed surfaces.

As shown in the drawing, an air duct 43 extends through the supporting and driving shaft 8 and is connected through passageway 44, extending through the base frame of the spiral, with passageway 45 which extends through the tubular member 46 of which the flights of the spiral meals are constructed. The passageway '45 is closed at the outer end of the spiral by a plane surface 48 lying in a substantially vertical plane and which is perforated at 47.

In operation, air is forced through passageways 43, 44, and 45 at a pressure of about 4 or'5 pounds per square inch and passes out through perforations 47 with suflicient force to form an air cushion between the flattened.

surface 48 and the package of signatures 22.

Though the spiral member 46 has been shown in the drawing as constructed of a tube of circular crosssections, it will be understood that rectangular tubing may be used for that purpose. Further, it: was not essential that the outer surface 48 of the spiral lie in a vertical plane, but this construction is particularly advantageous as it facilitates the maintaining of the desired air cushion.

As previously noted, the diameter of the spirals, as well as the pitch and other dimensions thereof, is subject to considerable variation depending upon the dimensions of the signatures to be stacked. It is usually desirable, especially where the signatures are of soft, flexible paper, that the spiral be of such diameter as to extend far enough above the stacking table to afford adequate vertical support for the upper portions of the signatures. Where the signatures are of such height as to render this impractical, or undesirable from the standpoint of machine design, We may use two sets of spirals, one positioned above the other and adapted to be rotated so that the upper spiral will support and propel forward the upper ends of the signatures thus holding the signatures in a substantially vertical plane.

We claim:

1. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while being held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer ends a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signature.

2. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned, to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while held in a sub stantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures, a conveyor extending horizontally outwardly from the outer end of the stacking table and substantially flush with the upper surface thereof and adapted folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotat ably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned, to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures, a conveyor extending horizontally outwardly from the outer end of the stacking table and substantially flush with the upper surface thereof and adapted to receive the stacked and aligned signatures from the stacking table, said conveyor comprising at least one conveyor belt, means for moving said belt at uniform variable speed and means for holding the stacked signatures delivered by the spiral in a substantially vertical position on the conveyor.

4. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned, to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while held in a sub-- stantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distancetioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported andextending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thicknessof the signatures to be aligned, to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly alen g the table while held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures, and means for directin a stream of gas longitudinally into the receiving end of the spiral in the direction of travel of the signatures along the stacking table.

6. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned, to form space between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures, a lug secured within the receiving end of the spiral and having a rounded outer surface projecting outwardly through the spiral to a point just short of the inner surface of the receiving flight of the spiral and adapted to hold an entering signature against said flight surface.

7. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane with their greater dimension extending substantially horizontally, comprising in combination a pair of spirals rotatably mounted on parallel axes perpendicular to said plane and each extending to both sides of said plane, the distance between said spirals being less than the horizontal dimension of the delivered signatures, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spirals, the distance between the flights of the respective spirals being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned so as to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spirals about their horizontal axes so that the signatures between the flights thereof are separately propelled outwardly along the table while being held in a substantially vertical position by the spirals, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spirals, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer ends a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures.

8. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-fed printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane with their greater dimension extending vertically, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a ring rotatably mounted coaxially with the spiral and positioned in a vertical plane intermediate the plane of delivery and the outer end of the spiral, the inner diameter of the ring approximating the diagonal dimension of the signatures to be stacked, means for rotating the ring about its axis at a speed so coordinated with that of the spiral that the ring is rotated 4 turn while the signatures are being moved therethrough by the spiral, thereby rotating the longer edges of the signature to a horizontal position, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond the plane of signature delivery and outwardly below the spiral to the inner surface of the ring, the distance between the flights and the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while being held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the said table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the width of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer ends a distance substantially equal to the signature width, a second horizontal stacking table extending outwardly below the spiral from a point at about the outer edge of the ring to beyond the outer end of the spiral at a height at which the horizontal cord of the inner dimension at the lower portion of the ring approximates the longer dimensions of the signatures, a second pair of side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the second table by the spiral after leaving the ring, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the length of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer ends a distance substantially equal to the signature length.

9. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-fed printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along two parallel vertical planes spaced a substantial distance apart, comprising in combination two conveyor spirals rotatably mounted on a common axis, having adjacent receiving ends extending through the respective vertical signaturedelivery planes, the flights of the respective spirals being cut in opposite directions, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending outwardly along each of the spirals from a point inwardly of the respective planes of delivery, the distance between the flights of the spirals being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spirals in a direction such that each will convey the signatures received by it outwardly along the stacking table associated therewith from the plane of delivery, side guides extending along either side of the paths of the signatures being propelled along the tables by their respective spirals, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer ends a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures.

10. A machine for accurately aligning and stacking folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press adapted to discharge the folded signatures downwardly along a substantially vertical plane, comprising in combination a spiral positioned with its axis perpendicular to said plane, rotatably supported and extending to both sides of said plane, a horizontally positioned stacking table extending inwardly to beyond said plane and outwardly along the spiral, the distance between the flights of the spiral being greater than the thickness of the signatures to be aligned, to form spaces between the flights adapted to receive the downwardly directed signatures, means for rotating the spiral about its horizontal axis so that the signatures between the flights of the spiral are separately propelled outwardly along the table while held in a substantially vertical position by the spiral, side guides extending along either side of the path of the signatures being propelled along the table by the spiral, said guides being spaced apart at their inner ends a distance greater than the horizontal dimension of the folded signatures and being spaced apart at their outer end a distance substantially equal to the horizontal dimension of the signatures, the flights of the spiral being so constructed as to provide a passageway for air extending through the convolutions thereof, the outer end of said passageway being closed by a perforated surface and means for supplying air under pressure to the opposite end of the passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 473,660 Ethridge Apr. 26, 1892 1,100,570 John June 16, 1914 1,292,642 Pedrick Jan. 28, 1919 1,576,243 Mentges Mar. 9, 1926 1,898,704 Winkler Feb. 21, 1933 2,232,720 Novick Feb. 25, 1941 2,501,836 Barber Mar. 38, 1950 

